


let me keep being in love with you

by PixieSweets



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, I just want them to kiss, Kissing, Love Confessions, ft. supportive noya and tanaka, i love kiyoyachi!!!! they're girlfriends, this is just a bunch of fluff oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 15:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17123954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixieSweets/pseuds/PixieSweets
Summary: Hitoka is oblivious and doesn't feel like she's good enough, Shimizu struggles with expressing her feelings.Or; Townsperson B falls in love with the princess of the story.





	let me keep being in love with you

Hitoka sometimes wished there was a magical potion to make her smooth and cool, and other times she knew it _had_ to exist because there was _no_ way Kiyoko Shimizu could be so irresistibly perfect without magic of some kind. The way she caused Hitoka’s heart to flutter every time she sat next to her during practice, the way she was both pretty, smart and kind, the way her smile could calm Hitoka down even when she was about to combust from anxiety, couldn’t be explained with mere science and cold hard facts.

“I think you just like her,” she remembers Yamaguchi saying, without any hint of mockery in his face, when she told him about how Kiyoko made her feel. They had been in her house, studying for a test, in a rare occasion in which none of the other first years were around, and Yachi decided that if she had to ask anyone for help figuring out her feelings, it’d have to be Yamaguchi for obvious reasons. “Isn’t it kinda obvious?”

No, it wasn’t— or maybe it was, but she was just trying to avoid herself the embarrassment that came with a crush.

Expectedly, studying for physics was dropped in favor of freaking out about her newfound crush on one of her best friends. She wondered how she didn’t realize earlier how lovestruck she was—especially when she told Yamaguchi about her first meeting with the third year and “oh my god I was totally checking her out in the hallway that’s so embarrassing.”

So now, instead of a supernatural problem Yachi had a _very_ common problem: Falling in love with Kiyoko Shimizu. So common, in fact, that she wished it had been a supernatural problem instead. At least then, she would have had an excuse not to do anything about it. _“Oh, so Shimizu-senpai is using a love potion over the entire human population? That’s fine, there’s nothing we can do about it anyway!”_

But thanks to Yamaguchi’s insight in the situation, she was forced to mull over her feelings, her _romantic_ feelings towards Kiyoko, even while sitting right next to said girl during practice which Yachi was absolutely sure wasn’t remotely a romantic environment. She was not enjoying it. _‘What if she thinks I’m a creep?’_

Ever since she first saw her, she knew she was beautiful. With her silky hair and long eyelashes and that sexy beauty mark under her plump lips—if anyone said she wasn’t the most gorgeous woman they’d ever seen they’d be lying. Which meant Yachi freaking out in the hallway when they met was absolutely and undoubtedly normal. Blushing when she offered to walk home with her? Normal. Stuttering when speaking to her? Normal. There was no way those were symptoms of her crush.

Except apparently, they were.

Yachi left out a groan as she hid her face between her hands. Her face was burning, and while she wondered what exactly she’d done to deserve this, she realized she’d just gotten the answer. She fell in love with Kiyoko, that was all the world needed to turn against her.

“Hitoka-chan? Are you alright?” She expected Kiyoko to look weirded out at her sudden outburst, but instead, she stared at her softly with worry all over her features. Her back straightened and she looked as she’d realized something as she handed her a bottle of cold water. “You look red, would you want me to take you to the infirmary?”

“No…no don’t worry!” Yachi replied, stumbling around her words and afraid that they’d cause the hole she’d just landed herself on to grow deeper and deeper. “Just—thinking about some tests you know? Haha…we’ve been having a lot of them lately.”

“You tend to get good grades, so you shouldn’t worry too much about them,” In a swift move, Kiyoko moved a strand of her hair behind her ear. Yachi was suddenly painfully aware that she was staring, so she moved her eyes towards the boys’ practice instead. “If you want, I could help you study.”

“Mhm!” She hummed, taking a second to collect her thoughts and stop herself from looking at the pretty girl sitting next to her. “Thank you, Shimizu-senpai! I…I don’t think it’ll be necessary for you to help me though. I will do my best.”

“Good luck.”

***

She couldn’t keep acting as if she wasn’t crushing hard after that interaction.

_However,_ the idea of getting Kiyoko to fall for her, or the idea that she may even already have a crush on her as she’d heard from Yamaguchi, sounded preposterous. So, she decided to skip the option of becoming like Nishinoya and Tanaka (though she did admire their dedication to making Kiyoko happy), and instead went right to the final, and probably best, idea: letting go.

Her crushing on Kiyoko would _never_ work out. She didn’t even know if Kiyoko liked girls— much less did she know her type. Maybe she liked kind guys like Suga, or strong and frankly, kind of intimidating guys like Asahi. Maybe she did like girls, but she wanted a strong and confident girlfriend, the opposite of the disaster Yachi certainly was.

In short, she’d never like Yachi. So, if she kept holding on tightly to her, she’d die alone and sad and would never get to experience the fluttering emotions romance novels spoke about with someone who requited her affection. Hell, even if she did meet a pretty girl someday who for some reason liked her, the relationship still wouldn’t work out because they weren’t _Kiyoko_.

As her mind kept babbling on and on with every single tragic scenario that could play out due to her hopeless crush, Yachi tried to focus on her science notes for the test she had to take the next day. She wasn’t lying to Kiyoko when she said they’d been having a lot of tests the past few weeks, and her useless lesbian crisis certainly was doing wonders at distracting her from being productive. Less than 10 minutes later and a trashcan filled with failed attempts at solving exercises she had given up, realizing that she wouldn’t be able to study with her mind shifting focus back to Kiyoko every few seconds.

This was bad, so, so bad.

Her phone chimed over her desk, alerting her that she’d gotten a new message.

Just reading the name made her gulp; it felt as if the _Shimizu-senpai_ _🌸_ on the screen was mocking her. She wondered if her phone would break if she threw it against the wall.

_Shimizu-senpai_ _🌸_

_[20:36] Hitoka-chan! I was wondering if you wanted to go out, just the two of us, on Saturday (=^▽^)σ_

As soon as she finished reading it, Yachi locked her phone and began pacing around the room.

_‘Shimizu-senpai wants to go…out…with me….?!’_ She tried to keep herself composed, but she couldn’t when her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest and melt from how warm she felt. She thought about how the whole message irradiated cuteness, with the kaomojis Kiyoko seemed insistent in using and the adorable ‘!’ after she typed her name…and, also, she’d specified it’d be _just_ the two of them…

_‘Okay, self-indulging once won’t hurt. Just a friendly outing— not a date at all! I’ll make sure to stop focusing on my dumb, dumb feelings after that.’_

She unlocked her phone.

_Hitoka-chan_ _🌱_

_[20:38] Yes, I do!!! We can discuss the details tomorrow!! Tysm for the invitation senpai!!_

On the other side of the screen, Kiyoko was beet red and smiling.

***

‘Self-indulging once won’t hurt’, oh how wrong she was.

Hitoka tried not to run away as she waited for Shimizu inside a fancy book café. As soon as she stepped inside, she immediately understood why the third-year had excitedly recommended it when they discussed where to go. Wooden bookcases filled to the brim with books of all shapes, colors, and sizes could be found no matter where Yachi looked, and as someone who was particularly fond of design, she couldn’t stop looking around at the contemporary but at the same time rustic setting; taking in the smell of fruity incense and paying close attention to how the philodendron and string of pearls accentuated the peaceful nature of the room.

She’d taken a seat near the windows, observing busy businessmen rush to their next appointment and teenagers loudly chatting between each other while doing exaggerated gestures that would put Hinata and Nishinoya to shame. Saturday sure was lively…but she’d take a peaceful date with Shimizu over an exciting adventure any day.

She heard her name softly be called out and she knew her company had arrived. “Good afternoon, Shimizu-senpai!”

“Good afternoon, Hitoka-chan.” She was wearing a simple, short one-piece dress which looked fancy, but not _too_ fancy, casual, but not _too_ casual.

She could only describe her as stunning. She looked stunning. It took Hitoka a second to be able to move her lips to reply.

“Senpai, you look so pretty!” Immediately after exclaiming that, Hitoka wondered if getting a name change and moving to the other side of the world would be too hard. She hoped it wasn’t, but since, apparently, the entire world was against her it may as well be. Was she being too obvious about her crush? Shimizu was smart, what if she realized and it ruined their friendship forever—

“Thank you, you too. That color looks very good on you,” she smiled, and earth suddenly became heaven for Yachi.  “it’s to be expected, though. You look very pretty too.”

“A-ah, thank you!”

“Should we go and look for any interesting books? Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you’d like this place much. I remember seeing some design books…” Kiyoko Shimizu, _rambling_. It was…unexpectedly cute, while her words were expectedly thoughtful of her.

“No, don’t worry! I do like reading…not just design stuff…I’m not so confident on my taste though.” Yachi tugged on the hem of her skirt, hoping she wouldn’t embarrass herself. She tended to keep up with the latest popular novels, but she didn’t know what Shimizu would like. Maybe cool and mature English literature? Or maybe she preferred to read Japanese classics… what if she liked neither and preferred to read mythology? Wait—she was judging people by their looks again wasn’t she?!

“Don’t worry, I’m glad…” She smiled warmly and Yachi smiled back. It eased her anxiety a lot to see Kiyoko happy— she associated that smile with peace, calmness. Just like when she’d first joined the club and Kiyoko bothered to slowly explain everything about volleyball to her, holding her hand while guiding her around the gym and protecting her from the stray balls the boys sent flying around.

“I was wondering,” Kiyoko continued “would you like to exchange books? You could pick one for me to read, and I’d pick one for you!”

“That sounds fun! I’m a bit nervous though, what if you don’t enjoy what I give to you?” Yachi twirled her hair as she thought about all the ways she could mess up, a habit she’d had ever since she was a kid.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m nervous too but…I don’t believe I could dislike something that reminds me of you.” If Yachi wasn’t too busy blushing herself, she would’ve noticed the tips of Kiyoko’s ears had gone completely red. “Um! We can leave our things here and go to pick out the books now if that’s fine with you.”

“A-ah! Yes, that would be fine.” Yachi hurriedly took off her purse and left it over her jacket on her seat as Kiyoko did the same.

They linked hands as Kiyoko took her to what she said was one of her favorite sections of the café. Neither of them even noticed their fingers were still linked until Kiyoko reached out for a book, the warmth of her hand abandoning that of Yachi’s.

“I used to love this one a lot when I was on first year!” The cover had two people, two girls, holding hands. “It’s a friendship and romance story…it’s very cute, I think you’d like it!” She looked so excited as she proceeded to explain loosely the plot of the book, but Yachi’s brain had stopped working by that point.

_‘Does this mean she likes girls, or am I overthinking things?’_

“…would you like me to pick another one?” Kiyoko’s voice had a tint of sadness to it, and guilt settled on Yachi’s gut quickly as she knew she was the one who caused it.

The blonde shook her head vigorously. “Sorry, Shimizu-senpai! I was listening, don’t worry. Um, it sounds fun, I would like reading that one!” Yachi smiled brightly, reassuring her upperclassman.

“Alright, then.” She handed Yachi the book and looked at her expectantly. Hitoka jolted up from her shock of brushing hands with her crush as she remembered she had to pick a book as well.

“I…I’m not sure what to pick, honestly…” Her eyes lingered on the books, trying to see if she could see any familiar titles around. Lady luck favored her, as a book she’d read last year stood between two other books she’d never seen before.

“Um, this one! It’s kinda plot-heavy, but it’s fun! Um…it’s a fantasy book! I don’t want to talk much since I know I’ll probably get into spoiler territory really quick and um...I tend to prefer to meet fantasy worlds by myself rather than by a summary if that makes sense.” She could hear herself babble as she handed Kiyoko the book. The girl took it and admired the cover, as Yachi tried not to get anxious about what reply she’d get.

“I think I’ll enjoy it. Thank you, Hitoka-chan.”

They spent the entire evening sitting across each other on the table they’d chosen, speaking about books and volleyball, and Yachi had never felt so at home.

***

She read the book Kiyoko had lent her on less than a week and proceeded to heatedly rant about how _frustrating_ the obliviousness of the main character was and how sweet the ending had been and how cute the two main characters were together every single time she encountered Kiyoko outside of practice. What she didn’t rant about was how painfully relatable the main protagonist was with her whole ‘I like a girl that’s sweet and gorgeous but there’s no way she’ll like me back’, and how she seemed so intent to keep her crush as a secret until she died.

“But wasn’t the obliviousness of Ayaka endearing, though? You could tell how much she loved Kishiko even before she realized it herself.” Kiyoko replied when Yachi talked to her about it, and Yachi couldn’t help but slightly agree on it.

“It’s just…! Kishiko could’ve told her she knew Ayaka liked her before, you know? I know she wasn’t super sure, but it’s still…” She complained, puffing her cheeks.

She couldn’t help the fleeting thought that came to mind while reading, that maybe Kiyoko was trying to tell her she liked her. It was absolutely impossible though— Kiyoko was an unofficial princess, as sweet as honey and as pretty as the priciest jewel, while Hitoka just played the role of townsperson B with no notable characteristics besides not having any characteristics.

It was a strange equivalent to those cheesy straight romance novels where the shy girl fell for the cool kid. She shook her head as she remembered how most of those stories ended. It’d never be like that for her, better not to get her hopes up.

_So much for letting go of her feelings, it felt as if she was way deeper in love than before._

“Sadly, not everyone is that bold,” Kiyoko smiled and the bell signaling the end of lunch break rung. “It’d be way better if they were, though.” It was a knowing smile as if she knew something she wasn’t telling.

As they parted ways, Yachi began freaking out.

That sounded awfully as if Kiyoko knew about her crush— was she telling her to make a move? Was this a sign from the heavens for her to confess to the third year, or was she just taking small comments way too seriously again?

When afternoon practice arrived, Yachi was still engrossed on Kiyoko’s words. This caused her to be more distracted than usual, which she justified in being a little bit tired.

In the end, she decided to use her last resort.

“Tanaka-san, Nishinoya-san?” Yachi tapped their shoulders, hoping they wouldn’t make such a big deal of it since the last thing she needed was unwanted attention.

“Hm? Yacchan, what’s up?” As Tanaka turns around and looks at her so does Nishinoya, and her anxiety increases tenfold.

“U-um…okay…so…” She breathed in and out, convincing herself that this was for the best and totally not a weird question to ask, “do you know what Shimizu-senpai um…likes?”

There was a second of silence before Nishinoya grinned and closed his eyes, as if this was an easy question.

“You’ve asked the right people Yachi-san, but you need to be more specific…before that though…” He looked at Tanaka and as the other boy nodded, he continued, “do you like Kiyoko-san?”

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Yachi hoped they’d make her death a quick and painless one, and that they wouldn’t tell Kiyoko about her crush.

“Hahaha…no, no way! I umm, was just asking since I wanted to buy her a…gift! Yeah.” She looked at the floor, rubbing her neck, and hoping it wasn’t too obvious she was lying.

Tanaka put a hand on her shoulder and Yachi couldn’t help but squeak.

“Yacchan…we’re friends and teammates, and we deeply care about you as a manager…” he gave her shoulder a squeeze, “So we will support you if you promise you’ll keep making Kiyoko-san happy!”

“Yeah! Kiyoko-san smiles way more when you’re around, y’know?! So, if you decide to confess to her, we’ll be cheering you on!”

…so, they weren’t going to kill her for being in love with Shimizu?

“No way!” They replied at the same time, and Yachi jumped when she realized she’d said that out loud. “She’s been way more cheerful ever since she met you, and I’m a thousand percent sure she likes you too.” Nishinoya added, patting her back.

“A-ah…” Her mouth was dry, and her face felt like it was on fire. “Um…thank…thanks…”

First Yamaguchi, now Nishinoya and Tanaka…why was everyone who knew about her crush intent on telling her Kiyoko liked her back?

“So…about things Kiyoko-san likes…”

***

“U-uh, Shimizu-senpai!” Quick but short steps could be heard throughout the empty gym. The boys were still changing so, besides Ukai and Takeda, the two managers were the only ones in the gym. “I was wondering, would you like to go out to eat— um, together, just the two of us? I found a nice, not too pricey, restaurant that serves traditional food and I remember Tanaka-san mentioning you liked Tenmusu a lot so um…”

Kiyoko brought a hand up to her lips and covered her smile as she laughed softly. Yachi stopped mid-ramble to appreciate it, and consequently began laughing too. Shimizu just had that kind of magic— the one that caused the people around her to feel as many positive emotions as there were colors in the rainbow and Yachi loved it, she loved her.

“Yes, I’d love that. Would this Friday be okay with you?”

So that’s how they found themselves walking together towards the restaurant, which luckily wasn’t too far away from the school. Right before they arrived though, Hitoka grabbed Shimizu’s hand.

The restaurant was just a backup plan if things went wrong, after all.

As Shimizu whispered her name, confused to have stopped walking so abruptly, Yachi mustered up all the courage she could and finally told Shimizu what she’d been trying to keep away from herself all this time.

“Senpai—I…I like you. As more than friends. It’s been a long while and…I only was able to put a name to this feeling some weeks ago…but I felt like I’d die if I tried to keep it secret for any longer.” As she felt her courage diminishing, the heat of her cheeks and the shaking of her legs and the soft but steady feeling of Kiyoko’s hand holding hers pushed her to continue. “I know I’m not too um, special, but I promise I will do my best to make you happy. I love your smile, and you’re so sweet and kind, and you’re really pretty too…! I’ve felt this way ever since we first met, I um…would not have joined the volleyball club and felt so excited and cheerful without you by my side, and…ah…I um…do not know how to explain it well but…I really love you!”

She got no reply for a second, and she wondered if she’d done something wrong. She felt her chest tighten and she bit the insides of her mouth out of frustration. She’d never confessed before, but she thought she was ready…sure, it wasn’t the most eloquent confession, and sprinkled in between were a lot of unnecessary pauses and anxious comments and she wondered if that was the reason why Shimizu wasn’t replying. Yachi went through all the scenarios that could happen if this confession failed before, but she still went through it out of stubbornness and now she swore she’d never fail to listen to her gut ever again. Her self-loathing abruptly came to a halt when her companion spoke.

“Hitoka-chan, can I kiss you?”

“U-uh…ah?”

Kiyoko’s hand pressed against her back, and Yachi was forced to take a step closer to the girl and placed her hands on the other girls’ arms. She breathed in the sophisticated fragrance of her perfume and felt as if she was walking on air when she felt the breath of her companion near her face. Contrary to the previous bold question, Kiyoko’s touch was slow and light, as if she didn’t dare to place her lips over hers. Her seniors’ eyes drifted towards her arms now firmly clenched by Yachi and moved them to trap her on a warm embrace, pushing her even closer to her chest. Yachi was beginning to grow impatient, with her heartbeat wildly beating and her breath turning unsteady, when Shimizu’s mouth pressed on hers.

It was a mere chaste kiss, but it meant everything for Yachi to be kissing the girl of her dreams. After they parted, she felt compelled to thank Shimizu without words, and so she initiated their second kiss. It was slower this time, and it was clear neither of them had any experience, but that didn’t stop them from trying.

Needless to say, Yachi didn’t stop hugging Shimizu for a while.

***

A few days later, they told the team and Yachi finally got her well-desired answers.

“Oh, so Shimizu finally stopped acting as if she didn’t know about your crush on her? Congratulations!” Sugawara clapped and smiled, unaware that he was causing Yachi to have a meltdown.

“Sh-she knew?!” She looked at Shimizu looking for answers, who turned her head to avoid her gaze. “Ahhhh…!” Yachi turned to Yamaguchi looking for answers. Was this why he was acting like Shimizu had a crush on her? To get her to confess?

“I didn’t know she knew!” Yamaguchi lifted his arms and looked at Daichi. “Uh, we all knew both of you liked each other though. I guess Shimizu-senpai isn’t as oblivious to her feelings.”

“So, the book--?” Yachi ran towards Shimizu who was busy scolding Suga for embarrassing her. The boy didn’t look apologetic at all, though, and kept giggling.

“I-it really was one of my favorites,” Shimizu replied, justifying herself.

Hitoka thought about it for a second. While fully aware that Hitoka liked her, Shimizu gave her a book which she knew would cause Hitoka to both solidify her feelings for Shimizu and also carefully chose words which would lead her to make a move.

…it was all on purpose.

“…you were too embarrassed to confess, so you gave me hints that I should be the one to do it?”

There was no reply for a second, and Hitoka couldn’t care less about her teammates as she jumped to shower her girlfriend with kisses. Even someone as cool as Kiyoko had an embarrassing side, huh?

The faint sound of Daichi telling the rest of Karasuno to get back to practice could be heard, but neither of the managers cared.

***

“Shimizu! I’m home!” The shuffling of papers in the living room could be heard from the entrance, so Hitoka didn’t hesitate on making her way there. It’d been a slow day— her project partners couldn’t seem to understand that this work would determine whether they’d approve the course or not, which meant she had to be extremely rude to get them to work. Even after years of dealing with Hinata and Kageyama, she still wasn’t good at handling people who struggled to focus on their work. “Shimizuu…” She threw herself on the couch next to her girlfriend, who had left the papers she was handling on the coffee table to stop them from getting crumpled.

“Welcome home.” Shimizu gave Hitoka a quick peck on the lips and placed her head on her shoulder. “How was your day?”

“Mhmmm…boring,” she twirled a strand of black hair between her fingers carefully not to tug, “I would’ve very much preferred to stay here with you.”

That earned her a giggle from Shimizu, who shuffled to hug her girlfriend and hold her hand. “At least you’ll be finishing soon,” her eyelashes fluttered as she turned to stare at the blonde, “would you like to go on a date then?”

“That’s too much time without dates!” Hitoka exclaimed and with much less grace than Shimizu returned her embrace. “We should go out on Friday, or maybe we could just stay home and watch some movies…”

“I’d prefer the latter,” Yachi’s fruity and girly perfume filled her senses as she pressed her forehead on her shoulder. “I miss cooking for you.”

“But you cook for me every day!” Hitoka grinned “If it wasn’t for those super cute surprise lunches you sneak in my bag when I leave, I would probably starve!”

Shimizu just hid her reddening face by pressing it on her girlfriend’s shoulders, who kept giggling and petting her hair.

“Wahhh…my princess is embarrassed…!” Sometimes Shimizu wished Hitoka would turn back to that stuttering first year who wasn’t at all as bold as her 20-year-old self. “You’re so pretty! I love you!” She began placing kisses all over Shimizu’s face, nuzzling against her and proclaiming she was every single synonym of ravishing she could find.

She loved Shimizu, and she knew Shimizu loved her too. She would never ask for anything else.

**Author's Note:**

> If you managed to get to the end of this mess umm congrats and merry christmas!!!! i love kiyoyachi and i hope this wasn't too hard to read ^^'' it's my first haikyuu fic so i'm sorry if things are kind of ooc-- i tried though and im def gonna keep practicing writing for haikyuu in the future!!


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